Panic In Jinja As Man Exhibiting Ebola-like Symptoms Collapses And Dies

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in Health April 29, 2023

Residents of Mukwanga zone in Buwenge town council, Jinja district were on Friday sent into panic mode. Thi is after a 48-year-old man, Anthony Mutebe collapsed and died in the trading centre after exhibiting Ebola-like symptoms.

Mutebe’s body which had blood spills from the eyes, mouth, nose, and ears, was left in the open for several hours for fear of spreading a suspected contagious disease.

Prior to his death, Mutebe reportedly vomited blood for nearly ten minutes before collapsing. This prompted the residents to alert the police authorities.

The police cordoned off the scene and prevented curious residents along with family members who had converged in the area from getting in contact with the deceased.

By 1.00 pm the residents became impatient waiting for the Jinja district health surveillance teams. Several individuals, including children, started to stroll in to pay their last respects to their deceased neighbour.

Some of them touched his forehead as is the tradition in the area. This raised further health concerns over the spread of the suspected disease.

Musa Magumba, the Buwenge town council councilor stated that Mutebe was confirmed dead at around 8:00 am.

A surveillance team from Buwenge health centre IV led by Pauline Akiror arrived later and extracted samples from the deceased.

This was for further analysis at the Uganda Virus Research Institute to ascertain the exact cause of death. Only 30 select family members were allowed at the burial and social distancing was also strictly observed.

Uganda was only declared Ebola-free on January 11 this year by the World Health Organization. This came following its seventh Ebola outbreak late last year that claimed over 55 lives with a case fatality of 39 per cent. The first case was confirmed on September 20, 2022, in Mubende district, western Uganda.

The virus got spread to other districts of Kassanda, Kyegegwa, Kagadi, Bunyangabu, Wakiso, Jinja, Masaka and Kampala. A total of 143 cases (85 males and 58 females) were confirmed with 22 probable cases and 87 recoveries.

Souce: Uganda Radio Network.

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